Welcome to SIN INC. Vice is my beat. I've written for Harper's Bazaar, Details, Newsweek, Salon, Slate, The Daily Beast, CNN, Marie Claire, Women's Health, Glamour UK, The LA Weekly, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Variety, Esquire, and The Atlantic. In 2008, TIME named me a best blogger of the year. I've appeared on CNN, NPR, and "Politically Incorrect." [EMAIL]

Take, for example, this very series I’m doing this month on my Forbes blog.

It is an unmitigated failure.

This is the sixth post in the series. Not one of those posts has gotten more than 1,000 views. Which is awful.

For comparison, every day this blog gets over 1,000 views for one post in particular. It was written in April of this year. The title is: “The Hardest Thing About Being a Male Porn Star.” So far, the post has over 200,000 views and climbing. It is the most popular post that I’ve ever written on this blog. Most of the traffic it gets is organic. (I believe; the Forbes dashboard is not the most detailed back end you will ever encounter.)

Because of that post, once or twice a week, I get an email from a male stranger who wants to know how to become a male porn star. Here’s the most recent one:

“Hey i was reading ur blog on the internet and would like to know if becomin a male pornstar would be for me.”

Most of them are like that.

I should write a post every day about male porn stars and/or how to become a male porn star. I’d probably get tons of page views, and I’d have a deep understanding of what it takes to be a male porn star.

But I won’t.

Freelancing is about being able to tolerate failing every day. If you can’t, you should do something else.

TIP #2: Treading water is better than drowning.

Even though this series has been a colossal failure and may prove to be ultimately nothing more than that, it doesn’t matter.

Because it’s good for me.

This series makes me post every day. And it makes me think about what I’m doing.

TIP #3: Expose yourself and the world will respond.

There are a lot of things that hold women back.

If you want to blame someone or something, it’s easy to point the finger at things that are not women, but a lot of it lies within.

Women struggle a lot with shame. Shame and humiliation. And guilt.

Shame, humiliation, and guilt are terrible feelings. They are squirmy and awful. Like being stuck in wet clothes you cannot remove.

You know what’s embarrassing? Freelancing. Always asking for something. Always pitching something. Always tap dancing for your dinner, hoping for a tip, not wanting to get the hook.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Susannah, why would you write something like this? Why make a point of telling all us freelancers that we’re failures?

OK, I get it — we will sometimes fail to land a particular client or gig. Or not get as much traffic as we’d like to an article or blog. Big deal, that’s part of business. And yes, freelancing is a business — assuming, of course, a writer approaches it that way. I’m a full-time freelance writer who derives 95% of my family’s income from my freelance business, so that’s how I have to approach it. Freelancing isn’t something I just do for kicks and giggles.

Freelancing isn’t embarrassing. I’m not always asking for things or “tap dancing for my dinner.” I sell and market my services to potential clients who could benefit from them. In fact, I’m as much a salesman and marketer as I am a freelance writer.

If I had your attitude, I’d just as well pack it up and go look for a job.